Apparatus for separating oil and gas in alpha well



Sept. 22, 1925.

J. COULJIER APPARIVILIS- FOR SEPARATING OIL AND GAS 1N A WELL Filed Marchl 26 19E-4 Z 7 50 E, f L w f L L, l T v 4 gli I1`, Ll

companying Patented Sept.l 22,

UNrrensrATss PATENT ori-ies JOHN ocurran, or, HUNTINGTON nunon, cALIroaNra .APPABATUSIOB SEPABATING OIL AND GAS A .application am umvrcn as, i924. serial ne. 702,000.

To all-whom consom.'

Be it known that I, JOHN Commun, a citizen of the United States, residing 'at Huntington Beach, in .the county of' Orange,

' State' of 'Californlm ha've'invented a 4new' andfuseful fApparatusfor Separating Oil and Gas in a Well, of which the following to pump efnciently with the oil well pumps as are now commonlyA used in oil wells. Wells voften stop pumping, dueto the fact that there is Such a large quantity -of nitroges in the bottom ofthe well where the pump is operating that the.. pump failsjto raise the oil .due to the large' amount of nat* ural gases admitted into the pumping barrel during the stroke or strokes o f the pump.` There still remains, however, a. considerable amountof oil inv the Vwellv that could be.

to separate the natural gases from the uil so as to eliminate the natural gases taken into the pump barrel.

It is therefore an object of this invention l 4to prov'ide means for separating the natural gas from the oil before the oil is admitted Ito the zone of activity of the oil well pum It may he an object of this invention provide an apparatus .for separating thenatural'gases from the oil at the hottom of the well so that Athe natural gases lmay pass up d oil well casing and the oil, freed from the greater portion of these natural gases, may be pumped by the oil well pump through the tubing provided for ,the discharge. 'of the'v oil.

An object of this invention may be to provide a comparatively simple, euicient yand inexpensive apparatus for obtaining the plicable to' the above enumerated advantages, which isap- Other-advantages-andobjects of this in? ventionwill he apparent from the followdetailed description of a prerredemf iment'thereof, as illustrated'ih the acdrawings.

ple '8 :at this point. The piple --oil well pumps as new in' `In the drav'vings:l

` Figure -1 is a'sectional side elevation of the lower end of an oil well illustrating this' invention as embodied in connection with an oil well pump.

Fig. 2 is ,a sectional side elevation taken l on theline 2-1-2 of Figure l.

Fig. 3 is a sectional the line 3--3 of Figure l ou't'er'oil well casing is gener1 lly in- .dicated by the numeral 1, in which the ordinary tubing 2`sdisposed.' The voil wellpump 3 is's'ecuredto the. lower end ofthe tubing 2, as illustrated at 4." The working barrel 5 of the pump may be an extension ball typeis ordinarilylocated in or' at the lower end ofthe oil well pump 3, which standing valve is ordinarily screwthreaded into a shoe 7 substantially as Iillustraix'ad plan view taken onA 'zo' ofthe tubing 2. A standing valve 6 of the screwthreadedto the shoe-7 in 'some such manner as illustratedjat v9 thesaid nipple 8 having a -pluralityfof *perforations` -as -illustrated str-10. A ange `11isscrew-thread- .ed tothe" nipple 8|, as illustrated et l2. A

section of-pipe 13 of gregter vinternal diameter than `the' tubing 2 or the pump barrel 5, and of less external diameter than 'the 4casing-1, and having a depressed section 14,

is adapted'to be slipped over'the-pump barrel 5 and has anV internally extendingr shoulder 15, whichshoulder 15 is adaptedto engage the flange 11. In order to hold the shoulder l15A in engagement with the 'iiange 11, a collar Itis screw-threaded to the nipple 84 to force the shoulder 15 against the flange 11. AA plug 17 may be screwsthreaded into the collar 16, 'as illustrated at 18, so as' to restrict the Apassage of oil into the nip- .13 may he of any desired length vand it as been found the oil well pump 3 'so es toiprovide-ajsep- `larating'"chamber of lullicient (':apamityf4 o r size to permit acomplete or approximately complete separation of the'gas from the oil before the oil is admitted vto the'chamber surrounding .the perforated 'pple 18, 136- that to obtain the best results, the vpipe 13 `should extend approxilnately tothejtop of No los cause if 'gas is carried with'the; oil into this region the' gas andA oill are 4drawn'"together -throug'h'the perforationi '10 of the' nipple 8 and hence through the pump 3'. OilA wilLbe fromjthe well in some such manner as will now be described, it

being understood that the pump 3 and this novel gas separator are lowered into the oil 'strata so that the same will ordinarily be submerged for a portion of its length in oil. The oil will therefore flow up the interior of the-'casing 1 to the top 19 of the pipe 13, where the. oil will be permitted to drop into 'the interior of the said pipe 13. The oil been found that in the case of small wells,A the space between the pumping barrel 5 andv .the casing 1 is so narrow that it has'been will therefore assume a curved path and any gas carried by the oil will be separated by this curved low and pass up out of the well between the casing l and the tubing 2. The

oil-passing down the interior of the pipe 13 will enter the pump barrel through the perforations l0 in the nipple 8 substantially free of gas, so that the pump 3 may operate to pump the oil up through. the tubing 2 to the topl of the well.` The pipe 13 may be of anygsuitable construction; however it has deemed advisable in this case to construct the pipe 13 of tin or other very thin metal p so that the passage between vthe pump barrel 5 and the casing 1 will not be restricted to any material, degree.

Having fully described a preferred `em-` bodiment, it is to be understood thatI do not wish to be limited tothe exact construction heretofore sct forth, which may obviously -be varied in detail to obtain a separation 'of the'gases from the oil, as heretofore de- "scribed, 'without departing from the spirit 2. A gas and oiljseparator adapted to be "secured to an oil well pump which pump is secured to a string of well tubing within an oilwell casing, comprising a nipple, a plurality of perforations in said nipple, means for closmg the nipple at its lower end, .a pipe secured to said nipple at itslower end 1n fluid tight relation and adapted to fit in fthe space between the pump barrel and the casing said pipe extending upwardly ltosubstantially the top of the oil well pump, the pipe being open at its upper end so as to permit the free fall of the oil into the space between the pipe and the nipple 'andvwhereby the gas Hows freely out of the wellthrough the space between the oil well casing and the well tubing.

Signed at Huntington Beach, Calif., this 20th day of March, 1924.

JOHN COULTER. 

